286 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



did not prove a very attractive travelling com- 

 panion, for whenever he ceased rushing about 

 from one end of the carriage to the other he 

 would resume that peculiar process of manual 

 ablution with invisible soap and water which 

 might have led me to mistake him for a shop- 

 walker had not such an idea seemed on the face 

 of it absurd. Even in repose his attitudes were 

 unusual, for he would sometimes throw his 

 arms up into the air and draw his head down 

 almost between his legs, and remain in this 

 woebegone position, as though overcome with 

 mental dejection, until it was time for him to 

 resume his pilgrimage round the carriage. 



I was anxious to see what my fellow-traveller 

 would do when the tickets were collected at 

 Hatfield, for I had begun to realize that his 

 behaviour could only be attributable to feeble- 

 mindedness, and this is a subject in which I 

 have ahvays been deeply interested. I watched 

 him closely when the ticket-collector came 

 along, but he did not even look up when the 

 man opened the door, and if he acknowledged 

 his presence at all it was only by an almost 

 imperceptible inclination of the head. The rail- 

 way official, too, took no notice of my com- 

 panion. I concluded therefore that the latter 

 must be a season-ticket holder; my fear of him 

 diminished, and my dislike was tempered by 



